Bridgnorth District Council are bridging the divide
Filed Under Country Curtain | Posted on January 12, 2008
Its not easy being a rural housing provider, much less so when, as a council, funds are constrained by government while prices continue to rise. Bridgnorth District Council is determined to rise to the challenge, however.
The council opted to retain its stock following appraisals in 2004/5. In the course of gauging tenants opinions during the appraisal, it became clear, at that time, that they were in favour of remaining with the council as landlord, and the decision to go to a ballot was deemed unnecessary. During the appraisal, it was made clear to the tenants that the Councils financial situation regarding housing was somewhat precarious. In spite of this, the tenants preferred to remain with the local authority as landlord, and trusted them with their homes.
Peter Hughes, head of housing and property services says: The financial situation has not got any better, and its likely to get a lot worse post-2010, but none the less were well on course to achieve Decent Homes by that target. We would have liked to have aspired to the higher Bridgnorth Standard, but its simply not been practical meeting the Decent Homes Standard is enough of a challenge in itself, but it is none the less one that we are determined to meet.
The uncertainty surrounding funding to maintain Decent Homes beyond 2010 is, of course, one that all council landlords face, but an added complication arises in Bridgnorths case as it is set to merge into the new Shropshire Unitary Authority in April 2009. As one of only two local authority landlords among the councils that will make up the new authority, a further shadow of uncertainty is thrown over its future. In spite of this, the team are committed to the job in hand, whatever the
future may hold. The team are also working closely alongside the county council in preparation for the unitary move.
For the time being, however, it is all about improving the roughly 2,300 homes that make up the councils stock. The stock itself is dispersed across a number of small rural villages and towns, as well as Bridgnorth itself, in an area which is cut in two by the River Severn. With only one crossing place over the river, the usual rural challenge of stock dispersal is magnified further still, and the logistical challenges facing the council are clear to see.
Bridgnorth retains an in-house direct labour force, and in spite of the logistical problems and shortage of skilled operatives in the Shropshire area, it still constantly tries to achieve savings with responsive repairs and void works. On the planned maintenance side, it has sought to achieve savings by putting its contracts out to tender, and by rolling contracts out over longer periods than a year, for example with two year rolling contracts for kitchen and bathroom replacements. Indeed, all the councils homes now have central heating of some sort thanks to this approach the council has also made good use of energy efficiency grants received from British Gas. The window replacement programme is also expected to be completed by the end of the year a notable achievement bearing in mind that many of the councils properties lie in rural conservation zones, where the use of a standardised u-PVC window replacements are often precluded.
Says Hughes: Were trying to get the work done in a logical manner that fits the profile of our stock. We probably could achieve Decent Homes quicker by just ticking boxes, but were not taking the cynical view of just meeting targets. For example both kitchen and bathroom need to fail for a home not to be decent, but were bringing the two programmes together, so replacing, say, bathrooms that may not need doing for a few years while were already in a property.
The council is also keen to facilitate development in the area, and has been looking at council-owned sites such as disused garages which could help to alleviate the affordable homes shortage in the area. As housing strategy office Fiona Stuart explains: Theres a huge demand for affordable homes here the house prices are high and the wages often arent. Also lot of properties are bought by outsiders from the area in order to commute to Birmingham and come home to the country. They can afford the market homes, but many locals cant.
Currently, the council has succeeded in acquiring around 110 homes through a Section 106 on a large development in the district, and this freed up a further six smaller sites which should deliver around 50 more affordable homes through its RSL partners. The homes include units for tenants with support needs, and through the type of both site and accommodation represent a fair mix of properties.
Resident involvement is also high on the councils agenda. Through residents groups and close work alongside tenants, it has acquired funding for external gates and other security measures, and the residents of Highley have been %26lsquo;highly commended by the Governments %26lsquo;Respect Task Force for their sterling work in the area, by accessing funds and improving their communities. The council is currently working to create a multi-agency team to fight anti-social behaviour alongside the police and other interested stakeholders.
Most recently, Bridgnorth tenant Caroline Killen of Shifnal was runner up in the Midlands Housing/TPAS regional Tenant of the Year Award for her work improving her local neighbourhood, and recommendations clearly dont come much higher than that!
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